IDA trade association unveils new name

Along with the name change, the IIAC announced it’s first “win” for the securities industry, saying that Canadians staying for extended periods in Florida will soon be able to make registered retirement savings plan (RRSP) transactions more easily through their own Canadian brokers.

After years of effort, the Florida State Assembly passed changes that allow firms, rather than individual brokers to register with state regulators. Russell says effective October 1, 2006, the registration process will be streamlined, which will encourage more brokers and firms to register in Florida, thereby providing vacationing Canadians with better access to their brokers. The Association has achieved similar legislative changes in a number of other states over the past decade.

At the members’ meeting, Russell highlighted the new lineup of industry talent joining the association’s staff including names like Jacques LeMay, formerly of Desjardins, Susan Copeland, formerly of the TSX Venture Exchange, and Barbara Amsden, formerly of the Canadian Depository for Securities. He told members that the industry is committed to subjecting all new rules and policies to cost-benefit analysis for its members, and marshalling industry opinion on the rules coming out of the SRO to provide strong input from the industry.

The association also plans to focus on providing members with education about new rules and identifying best practices and ideas that members can use to understand and comply with regulations in a cost effective way. Advocacy issues on the association’s agenda include: moving forward on the passport model of regulation, with an eye to eventually adopting a single regulator model; improved deadlines for filing T3 supplemental information provided to investors by corporate issuers and income trusts; and work towards getting better tax treatment for capital gains.

More importantly though, Russell says the split gives the new association the chance to point out to the SRO body when rules will have unintended consequences for the industry, scrutinize the regulations, ensure the rules are necessary and assess their potential impact.

Earlier in the day, he told Advisor.ca that the new association, unfettered by SRO business needs, will be more strategically focused on advocacy and the industry agenda, rather than narrowly focused on the intricacies of the rule making process.

“For too many years we have had an organization that was neither fish nor fowl. Our self-regulatory responsibilities held us back from fulfilling as effectively as possible our role as an industry advocate and our role as an industry representative undermined our credibility as an SRO. Each of our two arms seemed to be holding the other back,” said board chairman, Ross Sherwood in his opening remarks to members at the start of the conference on Sunday.

“We are free now to be a much more aggressive advocate and we are free to pursue our obligations to scrutinize the SRO — without one element of a dual mandate coming into potential conflict with the other,” Sherwood continued. “As a new, clearly focused industry association, we are better positioned to play our role.”

Filed by Kate McCaffery, Advisor.ca, kate.mccaffery@advisor.rogers.com